Covid-19 vaccine “passports” raise ethical issues, logistical obstacles

In Israel, a vaccine passport was launched last week that allows those who are inoculated to go to hotels and gyms. Saudi Arabia is now issuing an application-based health passport for those inoculated, while the Icelandic government is distributing vaccine passports to facilitate travel abroad. Last month, President Biden issued executive orders calling on government agencies to assess the feasibility of creating Covid-19 digital vaccination certificates.

Proponents of the plan say they will allow the affected economies to reopen, even if vaccines are still being launched, allowing people to enjoy leisure activities and go to work safely, knowing that they do no harm to others or are not in danger. . It could also act as an incentive for people to get shot.

But the concept is potentially full of pitfalls. It could discriminate against minority communities, which are less likely to accept vaccines, according to national surveys, or young people, who are less likely to be given priority to receive them. There are questions about the ethics of giving businesses access to people’s health records.

“The thing that underlies all these things is, what are you going to use it for?” said Melinda Mills, director of the Leverhulme Center for Demographic Sciences at Oxford University. “Is it for international travel?” Is it for getting a job? Is it for buying milk? ”

Some health authorities are concerned that vaccine passports could give people a false sense of security. For example, it is unclear whether vaccines prevent infection and the spread of the disease and whether vaccinations will become less effective through mutations in the virus. Scientists are fighting for answers to these questions.

In the European Union, leaders agreed on Thursday at a virtual summit to come up with an electronic vaccine certificate within three months, which could work throughout the bloc. But the divisions remain about what a certificate could be used for. Some, such as Austria and Greece, want it to be a form of passport that allows travelers who have been vaccinated.

Others, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, are more skeptical. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday night that he did not want young people, who will not receive vaccinations yet, to be discriminated against.

The World Health Organization has set up a working group to look at how best to create a digital vaccination certificate.

Israel and the United Kingdom, two major countries with advanced vaccination programs, are leading the debate. The UK aims to vaccinate all adults by the end of July. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a review of immunity certificates to be completed before mid-June.

On Saturday night, Israel began issuing so-called “green passports” that allow vaccinated people to enter gyms, concerts and hotels. Subsequently, the season tickets will be used at restaurants and bars, when they will reopen in the coming weeks.

Officials described green passports as important tools in their efforts to encourage as many people as possible to be vaccinated. To date, 50% of the Israeli population has received at least one vaccine.

Green passports can be found on the website of the Ministry of Health or on a mobile application and bear a bar code and a person’s identification number.

The project is not without controversy. While vaccination in Israel is not mandated, parliament on Wednesday passed a law that would allow the county’s health ministry to identify unvaccinated people to local authorities. Other measures may require frequent testing for those who are not vaccinated.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said he plans to propose legislation to allow employers to prevent unvaccinated employees from coming to work, although those decisions are not final.

The Israeli Public Health Union has warned that sharing people’s vaccination status raises privacy issues. Other experts raised questions about whether people’s personal information could be used to target them later with political publicity.

In the UK, where more than a third of the population has received at least one vaccine from the vaccine, the government is legally barred from forcing the British to be vaccinated. Initially, government ministers said they were against vaccine passports. But in recent weeks, the government has changed its approach.

Mr Johnson said people are likely to need proof of vaccination to travel abroad, as are some countries that require a yellow fever immunization certificate. But whether the government should mandate certificates for accessing recreational activities is unclear, he said.

“I have never had such a thing before. We never thought in terms of having something to look for in order to go to a pub or theater, ”he said this week. “There are deep and complex issues that we need to explore.”

To allay fears that it would turn those who refuse vaccination into second-class citizens, the government is exploring whether a certificate could be granted if a person tests negative for Covid-19.

Officials are exploring whether a vaccine or a test certificate can be displayed on an application developed by the country’s National Health Service. This could take a long time to be implemented, said Elliot Jones, a researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, a British research foundation. It took the UK government six months to build a Covid-19 tracking and tracing application.

In the meantime, the private sector can take matters into its own hands. British holiday operator Saga PLC said customers must provide proof that they have received two vaccines before boarding cruise ships. International Business Machines Body.

has developed a digital health permit that allows people to share health records with employers or other companies.

In Israel, some business leaders say they will need to vaccinate employees. Shai Wininger, co-founder of New York-based insurance company Lemonade Inc.,

wrote on Facebook that he will meet face-to-face only with vaccinated people.

Large shopping malls Ltd.

, which operates shopping centers in Israel, said this month that it will not allow unvaccinated workers, suppliers and guests access to its management offices starting in March.

Once the majority of a country’s population is inoculated, the question is whether the social and economic costs of vaccine passports are worth the potentially small reduction in transmission they could provide, Mr Jones said.

If vaccinations keep infection rates under control, he asked, “Is it really worth it for all these problems?”

—Laurence Norman from Brussels contributed to this article.

Write to Max Colchester at [email protected] and Felicia Schwartz at [email protected]